Dedicated to the obscure singles and lesser known bands of the rock era. Somebody's gotta do it.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Week In Review: Lady Gaga Super Bowl, Chuckles And Wonderbags

While the Super Bowl might have been the best comeback in history for New England, I didn't watch their great comeback from being down 28-3. After beating the hell out of Terry McDowell's drums during Hard Rock Jam at Rumors, I went to Lucky's on Sixteenth for mac and cheese. I heard some great things about this place in Czech Village and since I spent a lot of time in New Bo/Czech Village decided to try them out. And I have to say the bartenders and servers were the most friendly and on top of things, tending to refill my root beer at every chance and the Mac And Cheese at 6.99, they still give quite a bit of servings to it, unlike the now defunct New Bo Beer Garden which somehow ran out of mac and cheese the last time I was there. Lucky's On 16th might be my new hang out on those Sunday Nights after jamming. I highly recommend them.

(photo: Billboard)

I did watch part of the Super Bowl up to Atlanta scoring and being ahead 28-3, to which I mentioned to the server that look for New England to come back, just a sarcastic observation to which Tom Brady engineered the greatest comeback, but I really wasn't interested in the game. I did managed to catch Lady Gaga's Half time show, brought to you by Pepsi so that she got some sort of money back for her 15 minutes of medleys. While I wasn't exactly in awe, I did think she put on a good show, but of course the social media Neanderthals made fun of her tummy roll. The comments come from dudes that wouldn't get laid by any plain jane much less Lady Gaga herself. It's gotten to the point that anybody can put anybody down on social media because they can. She poopooed the body shamers in grand fashion. Love your body love yourself, fuck the haters. I think she's gorgeous too.

(Photo: Darcy via Cleveland.com)

The major social headache news remains the Failed Reality Star continue to add more cesspool to the swamp by giving us Betsy DeVos and Jefferson Beauergaurd Sessions at Attorney General, and our wonderful bought and paid for Senators Joni Wonderbags Ernst and Grandpa Grassley gave bullshit excuses. Joni: “I have no doubt that Jeff Sessions will defend our Constitution and impartially uphold the rule of law." BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Chuckles: “There is no one more qualified than Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General.". Career politicians don't care what you think even if you flood their phone lines of not confirming Sessions and DeVos, to which DeVos gave 35,000 dollars to Chuckles for his stamp of approval, no word on how much Wonderbags got. Joni on DeVos: "Over the last several weeks, I have thoroughly vetted Betsy DeVos, and
have found that she shares the belief that those closest to our students
– from parents to teachers to local administrators and local elected
officials – know what is best for our students." (of course that 20,000 dollars donation will make you say such things about Betsy Beads). Chuckles: Senator Grassley says "I believe Betsy DeVos will perform the job of U.S. Secretary of Education faithfully and well." (35K to my fund helps as well). GOP politics at its mad best, all for the dollar sign and fuck the working class. I didn't vote for either Grandpa Chuckles nor the Wonderbags bitch, I voted against them. And they promised, like the FRS start to keep the 1 percent's best interests at hand. I'm not a big democratic supporter but I do not support the GOP at all, they do not represent me at all and it's a fucking shame the stay at home folks or the ones too delusional and blinded by The FRS, who had done exactly as he promised while campaigning. The end result. If you're going to take back your country, you better vote the Koch suckers out. Staying at home ain't going to cut it.The damage is done and you can't blame Obama, hell you couldn't blame him anyway, the GOP had control back then and obstruct all the way. Democrats need to grow a pair and stand up. We certainly will not get any help from Chuckles and the Wonderbag lady; not now not ever. New up: Sarah Palin, ambassador to Canada.
You betcha.

What has been missing from here this year? Snowstorms. We only had one since the first of the year and the most we got was a dusting from yesterday's small system going through, which has managed to make temps go back to seasonal, around 25 degrees. Weekend looks to be warming back up to 50 degrees again. The Ground Hog lied here so far. Another sign of spring, baseball training camps start next weekend. BTW, in Tucson this week temps should be around 80-90 degrees, if you look closely you might see the above person at your local swimming pool. You betcha

Sonny Lott, one of the finest blues players in the area will be inducted in the Iowa Blues Hall Of Fame later this year alongside Dan Johnson and Ellis Kell. Like Ellis, Sonny will be inducted post modem. Lott was once part of Patrick Hazel's Mother Earth Blues Band and later Divin Duck and was instrumental in keeping the music of The Townedgers alive. Unlike Sonny, I doubt if I'll ever see the wall of any music hall of fame unless I pay admission price for that honor.

The Red Baron in Czech Village is gone, it's replaced by Aces And Eights, to which the new owner promises more live music coming to that venue. From the bar itself they promise you this: To be clear we are not just a country music band bar, we are not just a
rock band bar, we are not just a karaoke bar...yes we will eventually
have appetizers and pizzas and we are hoping to branch out even further
and faster to more food options. We are still going to book 3 more bands
and 2 more acoustic shows in February so not all invites are made yet.
If you are still wanting to fill out applications please come during a
slow time to Aces and Eights after Wednesday of this week (opening
Wednesday) Please let Mike or Nancy Jo know what time you will be there
so we will be there to give you your the application. WE DO BOOK
BIRTHDAY AND OTHER PARTIES (Get ahold of Nancy Jo) Thank you everyone
and we will see you all soon!

Singles Going Steady Medley: None But The Lonely Heart

You're Gonna Wreck My Life-Howlin Wolf (Chess 1744) 1959

Originally known as No Place To Go but Chester Burnett decided to redo this version. Not as desperate as the original version but a more leisurely stroll through the blues. The above picture you see was taken from a EBAY seller and it looks like the record has seen better days. But I figure somebody will eventually buy it, simply of the fact it's Howlin' Wolf and it's on Chess. And one cannot have enough Chess Records in their collection.

Haunted Sax-The Nite Caps (Chess 1694) 1957

Something seen on EBAY (this photo above), and can be found on You Tube. I'm guessing that's Bob Hayes blowing schizophrenic sax as the Chess Engineer plays around with the reverb and echo on this song. Somewhat a bit more jazzier than the blues that Chess is famous for. Rumor has it it's Bill Haley's Comets moonlighting as they've been known to do (The Coachmen come to mind and the few singles issued on East/West. The other side is Jelly Bean, a goofy novelty song, ya know what I mean Jelly Bean? Of course it didn't chart. Neither did Haunted Sax.

Melody Of Love-Wayne King (RCA Collector's Issue 47-0024) 1940/1941

What better way to start this farce off, with an old time classic complete with goofy poem? Mary Carolyn Davies' Why I Love You is between the sugary strings of Wayne King and recited by Frank MacCormick. B Side of None But The Lonely Heart with a poem by Robert J. Burdette's Alone which was why Robert never got any. Destined to be returned back to the donation pile on my next trip to Madison.

Spooky-Classics IV (Imperial 66259) #2 1967

Somewhere down the line, there hasn't been much love for Dennis Yost and The Classics IV on CD. EMI compiled a best of, but Taragon ended up putting it out. Hell, Spooky has always been a top notch song if Dennis Yost played it or the Atlanta Rhythm Section, to which some members of that band played as the Classics IV, not to be related to The Classics of Till Then fame. Anyway, I enjoy the Classics IV version better than ARS, it sounded a bit more spooky than the southern rock jam of ARS's Spooky but neveryoumind. B side Poor People can also be found on the Taragon best of, which if you think about it, rounds up most of the Liberty/United Artists recordings of Dennis Yost and company.

Made number one on the KCRG Super 30 charts, regional charts did pick and choose certain songs and some always seem to do better than others. Like The Foundations, The Fortunes managed to have a couple of sure fire singles but you never knew what they had out for albums. And also were known for the classic Coke song It's The Real Thing. As I grow tired of the outdated Classic Rock Radio format (same 300 songs all the time every day) and the worthless modern rock, I begin to revisit songs that made nice background noise in the days of AM radio and I have been known to turn to dial when this song came on, but hearing it on 45, it's noted that the production team of Greenway and Cook knew a hook when they heard it, and so did the buying public. Tony McCauley, who co wrote this with the two Rogers managed to produce the likes of Petula Clark and Edison Lighthouse's Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes (or something like that) but McCauley was more of a hack producer, being responsible for Pickettywitch's failed single It's Just Like A Sad Old Fashioned Movie, not one of my better 45 finds, I think I pawn that one off on the old man's collection years ago. For The Fortunes, after their #73 followup, Freedom Comes Freedom Goes, they would not hit the charts again. Overall, The Fortunes may have been more closer to the Vogues musicwise, they were mostly a MOR pop vocal band, and like The Vogues I admire them from afar.

I Wanna Play House With You-Eddy Arnold (RCA Victor 48-0476) 1951

One of two singles that I found at Half Price Books and at around this time Eddy was more hillbilly than the super smooth Nashville pop later in life and in reality, this is the era that he was at his best, with the original Cattle Call getting a more echo sound later in the 50s. Original 1st pressing was on green vinyl (looks nice but the scratches you can't see very well) and this one is a 2nd pressing, your standard black vinyl, green label. The A side was hillbilly rockabilly country but the B side Something Old Something New is a ballad, to which Eddy would start doing more of as the years progressed onward. To draw a comparison, Ray Price started out as a hard honky tonker before discovering Danny Boy and a move toward lush pop country. Eddy was a hard hillbilly artist that became a lush pop country star. I tend to favor his hillbilly music over his lush pop country. Just like Ray Price as well.

Johnny Rodriguez had six number 1 singles between 1973 and 1975, this was his third that topped the charts in early 1974. He was a very underrated artist, and while on Mercury, Jerry Kennedy managed to find him some great singles, although I do think his albums were uneven at best and borderlined too much on ballads. This is only a minute fifty which comes and goes at a blink of an eye. B side I Really Don't Want To Know, is sung in Spanish about 50 percent of the time and bores the hell out of me. That's the way Crabby goes.

Dis Satisfied-Bill Anderson/Jan Howard (Decca 32877) #4 country 1971

Jan Howard remains one of the more underrated singers of the country music of the 60s and 70s, she wrote great songs (Love Is A Sometimes Thing) but also had her share of problems in life. She was at the peak of her singing career around the time this duet came out. http://www.janhoward.com/bio.cfm

Record Reviews:

Quiet Riot-The Randy Rhodes Years (Rhino 1993)

Quite frankly, Quiet Riot has always been the Kevin DeBrow Band, he's always had that bullhorn bellow that can either amuse or annoy you. CBS Records couldn't figure out how to market them, which was why their albums were only available in Japan (QR 1 and QR2) and it's a shame that these albums didn't see the light of day here in the states. DeBrow had a Steve Marriott influence which the band did cover a couple of Small Faces numbers, Afterglow and Tin Soldier, the latter to which I would have love to hear. And also to compare Slick Black Cadillac to the Metal Health version. Rhino Records cherry picked some of the selections from these two albums plus some outtakes and a live version of Laughing Gas, complete with a 7 minute Randy Rhodes solo. While the complaint might be that Quiet Riot didn't have a Metal Health or by Gawd Cum On And Feel The Noize, with Rhodes on board, Quiet Riot tends to be more in line of say, The Godz or Raven, hard riffing rock and roll with the usual goofy lyrics associated with having a good time with rock and roll. Afterglow is a alt acoustic version and it's quite nice, Look In Any Rainbow, DeBrow channels his inner Ronnie James Dio.and somebody in Motley Crue decided to use the riff on Killer Girls for their own Girls Girls Girls song. Once Randy Rhodes left to join Ozzy, it changed the course for both bands, Ozzy made his best albums with Rhodes and DeBrow got lucky on the Slade cover and of course Metal Health. Even for throwaway junk rock, The Randy Rhodes Years, showed that Quiet Riot had more to them, than say, Poison or even The Crue. Kevin DeBrow can grate on the ears at times, but I find him quite fascinating, if and when I'm in the mood .
Grade B+

Sandy Nelson-King Of The Drums (See For Miles 1997)

Let's face it, drum solos tend to bore me, but if you can manufacture a drum solo in 2 and a half minutes and do it right you can have a hit forever. Sandy Nelson recorded for Imperial/Liberty/United Artists for 25 years and for a resume, he did rival The Ventures in total albums output, although his cover version of major hits hasn't stand up too well in life. His two shining moments was Teen Beat (due as a one off for Original Sound) and Let There Be Drums, but taken as a whole, listening a whole bunch of the same riffs and drum solo isn't going to keep your attention very much. Cozy Cole made better songs since he could score and arrange them, in Sandy's case, it was one note guitar riffs or bass beats to keep things going. I tend to find the meddling Mr John Lee Parts 1 and 2 not to be exciting even with canned applause, and out of all the cover version they decided on Ooh Poo Pah Doo? But if you like different variations of Let There Be Drums or Teen Beat under different names then it's worth hearing once or twice. But even as a overview, unless you're a drummer, this comp won't mean a thing.
Grade B-

John Lee Hooker-The Big Soul Of (Vee Jay 1963)

While I think John Lee's time at Vee Jay might have been his classic period, I also tend to think that Vee Jay ended up screwing things up for some of John Lee's albums. Case in point is this weird album that Vee Jay decided to give some of John Lee's song a bit of soul music and it didn't work to Hooker's advantages. Take San Francisco, the song done in by some bad soul sisters backing singing in the style of The Right Time from Ray Charles, or She Shot Me Down (aka Boom Boom part 2), or the odd mambo of No One Told Me, including cheesy organ. In fact this might be John Lee's worst album up till the Earl Hooker mess up If You Got Em I Got Em a few years later. But at 26 minutes it's still worth a listen and still holds up, even with the repeated chords of Send Me Your Pillow and Good Rocking Mama (which in essence is the John Lee Hooker boogie beat that John Lee would repeat over and over till his passing) Hooker's vocals are spirited. Even while Onions (a rip of Green Onions) is soulfully cheesy and even on its first take feel, Hooker does his best to put the right words into that song. It's very humorous. Even though Hooker may have abandoned any more soul moods from here on out, The Big Soul, is a weird but wonderful experiment.
Grade B

From Mark Prindle mini reviews via facebook.

The Soft Machine - Vol. I - This 1968 release merges jazz, soul and
psych rock into well-played (though often morose) songs with hoarse
vocals that are out of tune as often as in. There is some great playing
here, and it definitely gets less mopey as it goes. The vocals are an
acquired taste though.

Baby Ghosts - Maybe Ghosts - 2014 melodic
punk rock from Salt Lake City. Punky tempos, but very melodic female
vocals with male harmony. I like the woman's voice; she sounds like a
'60s girl group singer. They sound like they should be midtempo songs,
but the drummer keeps the energy roaring. Good guitar tones too --
they're trebly and sound like human beings playing guitars, rather than
Epitaphy by-the-numbers fuzzalikes. Pretty good songs too! Not
mindblowing, but not bad.

Crack the Sky - S/T - American rock
from 1975. Has been called 'prog rock,' but I think that's pushing it.
It's more complex than casual radio rock maybe (and full of CSN-style
group harmonies), but not even as progressive as Kansas. Most of the
songs stink too; I just don't like this songwriting. It almost sounds
like weak singer-songwriter material adapted to a full band. They do try
to write interesting lyrics though. Check out "Surf City" if you can.
It's ridiculous fun!

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye - I like this album, but I
have two things I want to say about it: (1) One of you people nearly ruined Tom Petty for me by pointing out that over the
course of his career, he went from a positive, spirited rock style
("American Girl," "I Won't Back Down," "Jammin' Me") to a morose,
unhappy sound ("Joe," "Good Enough," nearly every song on this record).
It's true! He did! There are no happy-sounding rockers on this album;
everything sounds pissy. I still like the songs (I really do!), but it
sure was nice when Mudcrutch 2 came out last year and showed us a
happy-sounding Tom Petty again. The second thing I want to say about
this album is (2) when it came out, it was hailed as 'a return to his
original sound.' IT IS IN NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM A RETURN TO HIS
ORIGINAL SOUND. It is basic rock music -- not particularly melodic, and
played with negative emotions -- interspersed with some slower jazzier
numbers. I can only assume it was positioned this way to let people know
it wasn't another blues-rock album like "Mojo"?

Galaxie 500 - This is Our Music - 1990 final album by Boston indie
rock/slowcore band. Quiet, gentle, echoey, reverby, wavery-vocally and
filled with love. I feel like I should hate it, but I don't. It's
nice. I used to own "On FIre," but sold it because I wasn't into it.
Now maybe i would be.

Game Theory - Lolita Nation - 1987
double-album by California power pop band. It's a good mix of loud
guitar power pop, very pretty college rock, experimentation and
straight-up la-di-da pop songs. Unfortunately, the wimpy vocals make it
sound more like wimp pop than it actually is. It's definitely a smart,
diverse and enjoyable record, but you have to get past the vocals
(unless you like wimps).

Arthur Brown/Vincent Crane - Faster Than the Speed of Light - Good God,
this 1980 album is AWFUL! It's Andrew Lloyd Weber cornball showtune
dogshit! With an orchestra and everything! Go to hell, people who
write and enjoy musicals.

Hackamore Brick - One Kiss Leads to Another - 1970 Brooklyn band playing
gentle, boring music with electric piano, organ, acoustic guitars and
undistorted electric guitars. Wimpy and energy-sucking, like a Christian
Sesame Street band trying to be the Velvet Underground. Song titles
include ""Oh! Those Sweet Bananas," "I Watched You Rhumba," "Got a Gal
Named Wilma" and "Peace Has Come."

Gutterball - Turnyor Hedinkov - Supergroup featuring members of the
Dream Syndicate, Long Ryders, House of Freaks and the Silos. This 1995
release features rare demos and alternate versions of songs on their
albums. It has a couple of good Americana/college rock-type songs, but
most of it just sounds like half-empty demos and throwaway outtakes.

Haim - Days are Gone - Oh look, I turned on Soundhound, took a shit on
my phone, and this album came up. This 2013 release by a trio of
Californian sisters brings back the sound of late '80s radio pop -- in
other words, the worst music in the history of the world. Who the hell
thought it was a good idea to make new music that sounds like a 1989
prom soundtrack? Fuck these people and fuck all the critics who put it
on their Best of 2013 lists. This brings back so many horrible memories
from high school, when music was the most important thing in my life,
yet THIS is what girls my age chose to listen to. Thank God those "days
are gone." I'd rather listen to an album by COREY Haim than sit
through this festering bag of r'n'b-pop shit again.